(Original post by moregano)
Looking at it from another angle, more than 80% of the world's population live on less than $10 a day, which works out to be less than £2.5k per year. In the UK we're all actually pretty wealthy.

completely stupid statistic. Yeah, we're wealthy, but $10 a day in poorer countries buy a hell of a lot more. Not to mention far more people are subsistence farmers etc with no real income, but who still enjoy a reasonable quality of life.

(Original post by moregano) I would define any household with a combined income over £30,000 as rich. £250,000 is obscenely wealthy.

I think the average household income (before tax) is more than £30,000? Surely that can't be 'rich'
Edit: Average family income is £32,779 according to this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7071611.stm
Edit 2: Well I guess when you put on on the scale of the entire world, everyone here is rich.

(Original post by Orichalon)
completely stupid statistic. Yeah, we're wealthy, but $10 a day in poorer countries buy a hell of a lot more. Not to mention far more people are subsistence farmers etc with no real income, but who still enjoy a reasonable quality of life.

I'll use GDP instead then.

Spoiler:

Show

There's an awful lot of blue on that map.

As for your second point, quality of life doesn't really come into it, as "richness" tends to be a measure of income, spending power and material wealth.

I personally would have said that someone is 'rich' if they are able to live a similar lifestyle to someone who is earning about £150,000 per annum without having a job (or anyone else supporting them). So they might have so much money that it will last them the rest of their lives, or they might have shares in businesses or property etc. which yields 150k a year etc.

(Original post by tazarooni89)
I think the average household income (before tax) is more than £30,000? Surely that can't be 'rich'
Edit: Average family income is £32,779 according to this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7071611.stm
Edit 2: Well I guess when you put on on the scale of the entire world, everyone here is rich.

You're right, average household income is over £30,000. I was looking at the median (source - the section on household incomes). That's quite a difference between the mean and the median, which is to be expected I suppose. So whilst the average household income may be quite high, the majority of households in the UK don't earn anywhere near that much.

(Original post by tazarooni89)
I think the average household income (before tax) is more than £30,000? Surely that can't be 'rich'
Edit: Average family income is £32,779 according to this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7071611.stm
Edit 2: Well I guess when you put on on the scale of the entire world, everyone here is rich.

That's the mean, it's terribly biased because its so sensitive to extreme outliers. Most households in the UK are on an income of £18k, but one or two supermillionaires will pull the average up disproportionately.

The median income is much more realistic a veiw of the average income. Also consider that, even in this day and age, 1 in 3 children in the UK are living in relative poverty. You have to have a bizarre view of the world to think the average uk income is above 30k.

(Original post by tazarooni89)
I personally would have said that someone is 'rich' if they are able to live a similar lifestyle to someone who is earning about £150,000 per annum without having a job (or anyone else supporting them). So they might have so much money that it will last them the rest of their lives, or they might have shares in businesses or property etc. which yields 150k a year etc.

Edit: I don't hate the rich though.

This seems to be the most reasonable definition to me. I would add the condition that this income has to be generated without depreciating the assets in real terms.

(Original post by screenager2004)
That's the mean, it's terribly biased because its so sensitive to extreme outliers. Most households in the UK are on an income of £18k, but one or two supermillionaires will pull the average up disproportionately.

The median income is much more realistic a veiw of the average income. Also consider that, even in this day and age, 1 in 3 children in the UK are living in relative poverty. You have to have a bizarre view of the world to think the average uk income is above 30k.

Relative poverty is absurd imo. There is poverty and there there is non-poverty.

Children who have to travel to get water and who have to work to support their families and worry about diseases and whether they will be eating that night <-- poverty.